Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) has been one of the fastest growing problem areas in many disciplines. The central problem is how to evaluate a set of alternatives in terms of a number of criteria. Although this problem is very relevant in practice, there are few methods available and their quality is hard to determine. Thus, the question `Which is the best method for a given problem?' has become one of the most important and challenging ones. This is exactly what this book has as its focus and why it is important. The author extensively compares, both theoretically and empirically, real-life MCDM issues and makes the reader aware of quite a number of surprising `abnormalities' with some of these methods. What makes this book so valuable and different is that even though the analyses are rigorous, the results can be understood even by the non-specialist. Audience: Researchers, practitioners, and students; it can be used as a textbook for senior undergraduate or graduate courses in business and engineering.
This book presents an introduction to MCDA followed by more detailed chapters about each of the leading methods used in this field. Comparison of methods and software is also featured to enable readers to choose the most appropriate method needed in their research. Worked examples as well as the software featured in the book are available on an accompanying website.
This work examines all the fuzzy multicriteria methods recently developed, such as fuzzy AHP, fuzzy TOPSIS, interactive fuzzy multiobjective stochastic linear programming, fuzzy multiobjective dynamic programming, grey fuzzy multiobjective optimization, fuzzy multiobjective geometric programming, and more. Each of the 22 chapters includes practical applications along with new developments/results. This book may be used as a textbook in graduate operations research, industrial engineering, and economics courses. It will also be an excellent resource, providing new suggestions and directions for further research, for computer programmers, mathematicians, and scientists in a variety of disciplines where multicriteria decision making is needed.
This book provides a systematic way of how to make better decisions in water resources management. The applications of three weighting methods namely rating, ranking, and ratio are discussed in this book. Additionally, data mining on keywords is presented using three popular scholarly databases: Science Direct, Scopus, and SciVerse. Four abbreviated keywords (MCDM, MCDA, MCA, MADM) representing multi-criteria decision-making were used and these three databases were searched for different popular weighting methods for a period of 13 years (2000-2012). The book provides also a review of weighting methods applied in various multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods and also presents survey results on priority ranking of watershed management criteria undertaken by 30 undergraduate and postgraduate students from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
p="" The book covers the domain of multi-criteria decision making, a topic which has gained significant attention of researchers and practitioners spanning a variety of disciplines for enhancing their decision making in real life situation. The topics in this volume help readers understand the techniques in the model building and analysis stage. The chapters cover a variety of techniques and their applications for interesting problems. This book will be of interest to readers in diverse disciplines such as engineering, business, management, humanities, psychology and law. ^
The field of multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA), also termed multiple criteria decision aid, or multiple criteria decision making (MCDM), has developed rapidly over the past quarter century and in the process a number of divergent schools of thought have emerged. This can make it difficult for a new entrant into the field to develop a comprehensive appreciation of the range of tools and approaches which are available to assist decision makers in dealing with the ever-present difficulties of seeking compromise or consensus between conflicting inter ests and goals, i.e. the "multiple criteria". The diversity of philosophies and models makes it equally difficult for potential users of MCDA, i.e. management scientists and/or decision makers facing problems involving conflicting goals, to gain a clear understanding of which methodologies are appropriate to their particular context. Our intention in writing this book has been to provide a compre hensive yet widely accessible overview of the main streams of thought within MCDA. We aim to provide readers with sufficient awareness of the underlying philosophies and theories, understanding of the practi cal details of the methods, and insight into practice to enable them to implement any of the approaches in an informed manner. As the title of the book indicates, our emphasis is on developing an integrated view of MCDA, which we perceive to incorporate both integration of differ ent schools of thought within MCDA, and integration of MCDA with broader management theory, science and practice.
Information management is a common paradigm in modern decision-making. A wide range of decision-making techniques have been proposed in the literature to model complex business and engineering processes. In this Special Issue, 16 selected and peer-reviewed original research articles contribute to business information management in various current real-world problems by proposing crisp or uncertain multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) models and techniques, mostly including multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) approaches, in addition to a single paper proposing an interactive multi-objective decision-making (MODM) approach. Particular attention is devoted to information aggregation operators—65% of papers dealt with this item. The topics of this Special Issue gained attention in Europe and Asia. A total of 48 authors from seven countries contributed to this Issue. The papers are mainly concentrated in three application areas: supplier selection and rational order allocation, the evaluation and selection of goods or facilities, and personnel selection/partner selection. A number of new approaches are proposed that are expected to attract great interest from the research community.
Multiple criteria decision aid (MCDA) methods are illustrated in this book through theoretical and computational techniques utilizing Python. Existing methods are presented in detail with a step by step learning approach. Theoretical background is given for TOPSIS, VIKOR, PROMETHEE, SIR, AHP, goal programming, and their variations. Comprehensive numerical examples are also discussed for each method in conjunction with easy to follow Python code. Extensions to multiple criteria decision making algorithms such as fuzzy number theory and group decision making are introduced and implemented through Python as well. Readers will learn how to implement and use each method based on the problem, the available data, the stakeholders involved, and the various requirements needed. Focusing on the practical aspects of the multiple criteria decision making methodologies, this book is designed for researchers, practitioners and advanced graduate students in the applied mathematics, information systems, operations research and business administration disciplines, as well as other engineers and scientists oriented in interdisciplinary research. Readers will greatly benefit from this book by learning and applying various MCDM/A methods. (Adiel Teixeira de Almeida, CDSID-Center for Decision System and Information Development, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil) Promoting the development and application of multicriteria decision aid is essential to ensure more ethical and sustainable decisions. This book is a great contribution to this objective. It is a perfect blend of theory and practice, providing potential users and researchers with the theoretical bases of some of the best-known methods as well as with the computing tools needed to practice, to compare and to put these methods to use. (Jean-Pierre Brans, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium) This book is intended for researchers, practitioners and students alike in decision support who wish to familiarize themselves quickly and efficiently with multicriteria decision aiding algorithms. The proposed approach is original, as it presents a selection of methods from the theory to the practical implementation in Python, including a detailed example. This will certainly facilitate the learning of these techniques, and contribute to their effective dissemination in applications. (Patrick Meyer, IMT Atlantique, Lab-STICC, Univ. Bretagne Loire, Brest, France)
This book examines multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) and presents the Sequential Interactive Modelling for Urban Systems (SIMUS) as a method to be used for strategic decision making. It emphasizes the necessity to take into account aspects related to real world scenarios and incorporating possible real life aspects for modelling. The book also highlights the use of sensitivity analysis and presents a method for using criteria marginal values instead of weights, which permits the drawing of curves that depicts the variations of the objective function due to variations of these marginal values. In this way it also gives quantitative values of the objective function allowing stakeholders to perform a comprehensive risk analysis for a solution when it is affected by exogenous variables. Strategic Approach in Multi-Criteria Decision Making: A Practical Guide for Complex Scenarios is divided into three parts. Part 1 is devoted to exploring the history and development of the discipline and the way it is currently used. It highlights drawbacks and problems that scholars have identified in different MCDM methods and techniques. Part 2 addresses best practices to assure quality MCDM process. Part 3 introduces the concept of Linear Programming and the proposed SIMUS method as techniques to deal with MCDM. It also includes case studies in order to help document and illustrate difficult concepts, especially related to demands from a scenario and also in their modelling. The decision making process can be a complex task, especially with multi-criteria problems. With large amounts of information, it can be an extremely difficult to make a rational decision, due to the number of intervening variables, their interrelationships, potential solutions that might exist, diverse objectives envisioned for a project, etc. The SIMUS method has been designed to offer a strategy to help organize, classify, and evaluate this information effectively.
The book discusses state-of-the-art applications and methodologies of the Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques and approaches. The book focuses on critical literature, underlying principles of methods and models, solution approaches, testing and validation, real-world applications, case studies, etc. The book helps evaluate strategic decision-making through advanced MCDM and integrated approaches of AI, big data, and IoT to provide realistic and robust solutions to the current problems. The book will be a guideline to the potential MCDM researchers about the choice of approaches for dealing with the complexities and modalities. The contributions of the book help readers to explore new avenues leading towards multidisciplinary research discussions. This book will be interesting for engineers, scientists, and students studying/working in the related areas.
